When Luke arrived at Kinor, a priest of Baal Zebul stood in his way, saying, “O Saint, I have a request.” Luke asked him what he wished, and the priest begged for the healing of his sick daughter. Luke then replied, “I will go and heal her.”
Gospel of Aurelia, Chapter 13, Verses 2-5
“O Saint of Capernaum! It’s me, Zebedee! I have a request!”
“Ah, Dad?”
A small voice came from behind me.
Johanna muttered softly, probably a slip of the tongue.
The man standing in front of me seemed to have not heard her voice, but judging by the way he stood still, it appeared he didn’t want to reveal his identity in his robes.
Johanna’s father?
That man?
“What did that priest just say?”
“That he has a request?”
“A priest of Baal? Asking Deus’s Son?”
“Indeed, it seems he’s your teacher. How odd for someone serving a false god to ask something of you!”
In [Deus Ex Machina], Johanna was not leading an ordinary life at home, despite her young age.
She was a unique figure used as a strategic weapon by the Baal cult.
From the materials pieced together about her backstory, it was noted that her ‘gift’ went out of control in her childhood, severely injuring her sister and distancing her from her family.
Moreover, tragically, the Baal cult’s document items suggested that her outburst was orchestrated by the cult itself.
No matter how extraordinary Johanna’s abilities were, for them to go out of control like that was an exceptionally rare scenario.
If other ‘gifted’ individuals caused significant damage like Johanna, the entire continent would treat them like ticking bombs ready to explode.
However, such outbursts are quite uncommon in reality.
The Baal cult recognized that Johanna had awakened immense power and devised a scheme to distance her from her family and snatch her for their use.
Even in a fantasy world, manipulating electricity is an ability of overwhelming destructive power and utility. For the current Pope of the Baal cult, who had swallowed the continent’s top religious position but still dreamed of greater heights, such power would have been incredibly alluring.
And Johanna is a poor child victim of such a Baal cult scheme.
That is the backstory revealed through document items after the Baal cult episode.
And her father…
Why did he block my path and mention a ‘request’?
“Zebedee, what do you wish from me?”
“It’s me, Zebedee. I have two unfortunate daughters.”
Two daughters. He must be referring to Johanna and her sister.
The reason Johanna became distant from her family was that her outburst left her sister in a coma.
“One day, an accident left my poor eldest daughter in shambles. Then, soon after, my second daughter disappeared. All that remains for me is this one unfortunate daughter in a pitiable state. I wish my daughter… I wish for her to live the life she was meant to enjoy.”
As he spoke, he lowered his head as if bowing.
Is he hoping for me to heal Johanna’s sister in a coma?
If so, why come rushing to me as soon as I arrive at Kinor?
In Capernaum and Debea, the entire town received my ‘healing’ anyway.
But he came rushing to find me, even at the cost of stopping all this commotion.
…Is Johanna’s sister in such bad shape?
If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to want to see me in a hurry… but something tells me there might be more to this.
Especially since it’s the Baal cult.
Not long ago, they tried to get me in trouble through a horde of monsters.
Considering how treacherous they were in [Deus Ex Machina], there could be ulterior motives at play.
Still… Johanna’s sister.
The reason Johanna’s life has taken such a turn.
If I can restore her here, it would alleviate a huge burden in Johanna’s heart.
For Johanna’s sake, I should…
“Lead the way. I will go and heal her.”
At that, he looked up in surprise, clearly astonished.
He probably didn’t expect I would come to his home.
“Th-thank you! I will take you right now!”
*
The Baal cult became the top religion of the empire thanks to the current emperor’s usurpation of the throne.
The current Pope is ambitious and aims for a position beyond what the cult has had until now.
And for that, they needed dirty work done.
That’s us, the secret warriors of the cult—Jevoub.
An assassination unit cultivated by the current Pope, whose very existence is publicly unknown.
We were in Kinor, in the city of Genesaret, under Cardinal Saloniir’s orders to assassinate a man.
The order was to remove a man who had recently become a thorn in the cult’s side.
As it wasn’t an order from the Pope himself but from Cardinal Saloniir, we were reluctant to follow it, but with His Holiness absent, he was our commanding officer; hence, we came to Kinor.
The original plan was to lure our target to the priest’s home when everything went smoothly.
If we could eliminate the target in a place with no witnesses, we could easily frame him afterward.
Saloniir would handle the aftermath, so we aimed to remove the target with as few witnesses as possible.
Of course, since the target was unlikely to come here alone, we had prepared several alternative plans.
A priest from the Kinor parish, collaborating with us under Saloniir’s command.
Something… felt untrustworthy, but Saloniir assured that if we took his family hostage, he would cooperate faithfully.
So we decided to accept his aid…
Who would have thought he would actually succeed in getting the target to enter his home alone?
He looked incapable… but was there a reason Saloniir chose him?
Regardless, it worked out.
Now we could cleanly eliminate the target.
This job would be a piece of cake.
“Over here, O Saint.”
The priest led the target into his daughter’s bedroom.
The very spot we had decided to remove the target.
My comrades and I exchanged glances, communicating silently before following in stealth.
“Wow… This guy is…?”
“Yes… My poor daughter is like this. I’m to blame for her condition. Please…”
Sure enough, the priest’s daughter looked dreadful.
I recall she was a candidate for sainthood… she must have ended up like this for the cult’s high-profile project.
They probably attempted some artificial modifications but failed miserably.
Either way, it’s clear the target’s attention was caught.
Since the target had a history of wielding fire and annihilating monster hordes, it was assumed they were specialized in large-scale destructive magic.
Such spellcasters are not difficult to eliminate, having faced many in civil wars, but caution is still advisable.
Waiting for the optimal moment, we exchanged glances.
Alright.
Now!
I drew my assassination knife from my sleeve and launched a surprise attack from the target’s blind spot.
No target could escape our onslaught.
I was confident this attack would sever the target’s neck.
But then…
Suddenly, it felt like all strength left my body, and the ground came dangerously close.
Am I falling?
Thud.
I quickly regained my posture to respond.
I don’t know what kind of trick the target pulled, but I’m sure they noticed our ambush.
“Are you Jevoub of the Baal cult?”
What stood before me with one hand behind her back was a pink-haired… girl?
Where’s the target, and what is this girl doing here?
She recognizes our identities.
And this place… was the priest’s house.
Did the location change?
This clearly looked like some kind of temple.
“Seriously… those Baal cult folks. I thought it was a real stretch to coordinate all this, but to even mobilize Jevoub to assassinate me?”
Snap.
When the girl snapped her fingers, two great swords manifested beside her, floating in mid-air.
Did the target… just transport us to another location?
This is bad.
My plans are going off-course.
First, I need to neutralize this girl and gather information.
Fortunately, my two comrades were also transported alongside me.
That girl… Kaiving the swords indicates she’s not ordinary, but still just a spellcaster.
We’ve eliminated so many like her; there’s no way we can lose.
Exchanging silent glances with my comrades, we charged…!
Snap.
Boom!
“I-Ick!”
Just as we leaped forward, one of my comrades was pierced by the girl’s great sword.
Did it come flying?
“Ugh…!”
I didn’t even see it coming.
What was that?
No, more importantly, did that guy just scream?
Through the torturous pain we endure, we are created to feel no pain nor let out any groans.
So how…
“Let’s finish this quickly. There are quite a few people waiting outside.”
Snap.
The girl smiled as she snapped her fingers again.
“Gah!”
Then came the searing pain in my chest, as if I was caught in flames.
Am I… feeling pain?
What is happening here?
*
In that room.
The Saint is present.
The three assassins attempted to strike the Saint but collapsed in a single instant.
I had thought that since I discreetly warned him on the way here, he wouldn’t be caught off guard; never did I expect him to incapacitate them all at once.
The Saint gathered the three assassins and laid them down, telling me to stay outside.
Please, I beg of you.
Please save our poor Jaime!
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